If you’ve ever had a vested interest in old-school dungeon crawlers or roguelikes, this game is for you. In my humble opinion, it’s good enough to justify a PS3 purchase. It’s seriously been a while since I felt like I got my money’s worth when buying a game.
Considering that many QT3ers are old-school PC gamers, I can’t fathom people playing this game and not hopelessly falling in love with it. I didn’t expect much of it when it was first unveiled at the TGS last year, but now it’s already become one of my favorite games of all time.
If you’ve ever played a King’s Field game on PS1 or PS2, this From Software game also shares some similarities. As a lone hero in a fantasy world, you must explore desolate areas and are left with next to no clues as to what to do next. You will meet very few NPCs, and have little else than your skills and your wits at your disposal.
Demon’s Souls is awesome in many different ways. The atmosphere is absolutely superb. There’s no music in the game except for boss battles, and when you come back to the game’s hub (called the Nexus). The ambient noises create an eerie symphony. You’ll be able to concentrate on hearing the enemy’s footsteps in order not to get ambushed.
This is a free-roaming action RPG, and the combat delivers. Not only is it as complex as that of a beat’ em up, but it also forces you to employ tactics as the enemies you encounter in the game are extremely dangerous. Demon’s Souls is an extremely hard, punishing game. Once you’ll have completed it, you’ll have died a few hundred times. If you’re not careful, even the weakest enemies can kill you.
It’s a brutal game, but it’s extremely rewarding, especially if you love exploration. Demon’s Souls features some of the best level design I’ve ever seen. One of the levels is a gigantic mine, and it genuinely feels real. It’s also very easy to get lost in one of the underground corridors. It’s a fantastic game to get lost into.
Demon souls are the game’s currency and have multiple uses, such as buying items, upgrading weapons, and leveling up. If at some point in the game you get killed, all the souls you’ve got on you are lost unless you can come back to the spot where you’ve died and touch a blood pool. This will undoubtedly rejoice fans of the roguelike genre.
Now here’s the deal concerning the game’s availability to westerners. Demon’s Souls has only been released in asian territories, and due to its daunting difficulty, it will probably never be officially released anywhere else. However, there exists an asian version that can be played completely in english (menus, dialogue and voices). There’s also a korean version, but this one is to be ignored since it doesn’t feature english text. That’s where the PS3’s lack of region coding comes in handy. Currently the game is pretty much out of stock everywhere, but it will probably be easily available once the current import craze has died down.
Before playing a game, I never had to wonder if I was courageous enough to do it. Demon’s Souls is the first game to elicit that emotion in me. I really hope that as many gamers as possible try out and enjoy this brave, underrated game.
